Beloved,
I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according
to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 3:1-4
NKJV
We
have looked the past couple of weeks at the words Peter wanted to share with us
as he approached the end of his life and we have seen that his greatest concern
was with the state of the Church. We
first saw that our priority should be living truly godly lives as a witness to
those around us, and second we were warned of the appearing of false teachers
in the church who would teach a gospel different than the one Jesus taught. Here in chapter three of second Peter we find
a warning of what we can expect from many in the Church, more than likely as a
result of this false teaching.
Today
we find in the passage above that Peter warns of people who claim to be
believers actually “scoffing” at the idea of Christ returning for His
Church. The word for scoffers can also
be translated “mocker”, carrying with it the idea that these people simply do
not believe in the rapture of the Church.
Not content to cognitively disbelieve, these people choose to spread
their unbelief by openly deriding the idea by asking the question “what is
taking Him so long?” They then point out
that nothing has changed since the creation of the earth, as if this explains
their belief that Christ will never return.
While
many of us might wonder at how someone within the body might hold to this
belief, I think this is simply a result of the false teaching we discussed last
week that occurs within the Church.
Notice that when Peter describes these individuals he not only calls
them scoffers, he goes on to say that they are “walking according to their own
lusts”. If you take a closer look at the
“gospel” false teachers are spreading within the Church today you will find
that the vast majority of them are telling people that it is just fine to “listen
to your heart” and make up your own mind about what to believe rather than to
listen to God’s Word.
I
put it to you that this is simply another way of telling someone to walk after
their own lusts, and in effect turns them into those who would mock others who
choose not to follow that path. Now you
might ask the question “how could someone exposed to the truth make such a
wrong turn?” You would think that
knowing the truth of the Gospel would certainly cause someone to think twice
about believing something different. If
we look further into this passage we find that Peter gives us a surprising
answer to that question, and one that I personally find very hard to believe.
For
this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old,
and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being
flooded with water. But the heavens and
the earth which are now preserved
by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:5-7 NKJV
When I first read this passage my eyes were immediately drawn to the
word “willfully”. It is translated from
the Greek word
thelō, and look closely at what it
really means;
to
will, have in mind, intend; to be resolved or determined, to purpose; to
desire, to wish; to love to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to take
delight in, have pleasure. In essence, Peter is
telling us that these individuals do not simply “forget” the lesson of God’s
judgment in the days of Noah, but rather they are resolved and determined to
take pleasure in choosing to ignore that warning.
Now did a light bulb just go off in your mind
like it did in mine? Two thousand years
ago Peter told us a day would come when the Church would suffer from an influx
of false teachers who would tell us that God is a God of “love” and would never
“judge” or “punish”! Why stop
there? The next thing you know there
will be teachers telling us there is no Hell!
Sound familiar? But this is not
all that Peter was told by God as he wrote this letter, and what follows should
certainly be of interest to those who would have us believe that a “loving” God
won’t return to “judge” His people.
But,
beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 NKJV
The
word for slack in the Greek is bradynō, which means to delay, be slow, to
render slowly, retard, to be long, to tarry, loiter. Obviously
Peter is trying to help us understand that God’s clock runs a little different
than ours does and what appears to us as a very, very long time is but a moment
to God. God has not forgotten His
promise of what is to come, but rather He has chosen to give those who mock the
opportunity to come to their senses and repent.
The most important word for those who choose to mock that we find in
this passage is “longsuffering”. It is
the Greek word makrothymeō,
which means to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of
others, to be mild and slow in avenging, to be longsuffering, slow to anger,
slow to punish.
Have
you ever spent any time around someone who has no patience? Have you ever observed, or experienced what
happens when someone runs out of patience?
What would our lives be like if our Father in Heaven was that impatient
with His creation? We as the Church
should fall on our knees in gratitude that God did not choose to judge the
world when His very own Son was rejected as the Messiah. The very fact of His patience has allowed the
Church to exist, and has given us the opportunity to choose to love and follow
Him.
It
may have been two thousand years, but Peter reminds us that the time will come
when the world will experience firsthand the judgment of the Father. Fortunately for those who choose to believe,
we will be spared what Peter calls “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.”
Keep
watching.
